I was recently made aware of a guy who tweeted some antisemitic content.  Nothing unique. Happens all the time.  Antisemitism is rampant on Twitter.   I try not to get into individual battles over it. That’s all  I would be doing all day.  This particular  tweet happened to come from a local kid(Dallas) so I decided to take an interest and teach him a lesson about his message.  Most speech is free from goverment interference  and Twitter does not prohibit this type of content but hate speech  does have consequences.  If I can teach one kid the consequences of his hate speech by costing him his job I am ok with that.   A short time later I got a tweet from a local Dallas atty asking me why I cared about the tweet of some random “tool”.  Here is the majority of the exchange.

There are some other exchanges that I have not posted but are in my Twitter stream if you care to look.  I admittedly got defensive and to use her word “rude’ with her.  For that, I apologize to Patricia.  I should have handled it with professionalism and a explanation of how antisemitism spreads.  Too much for 140.  Being anonymously rude was easier and more cleansing on a visceral level.  Even I can succumb to that in social media.

Here is why I care.  The kid may be a “tool” and a “waste of air”.  It’s not my place to say.  We all have value to someone.   The message he is spreading however, is not inconsequential nor harmless even from a random tool.  The message of antisemitism is spread  by “tools” lawyers, doctors, PhD’s and many others.  Millions of “tools” get together and that is how hate goes viral.  Pretty simple concept.  I won’t stay silent.

“First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.”

Those are reason enough for me to care about the Twitter message of a  random “tool.   Every genocide starts with one “tool”.   Here are some other reasons why I care. About 11 million of them.

Never again.

Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francais(SNCF)  is bidding to get a piece of the lucrative contracts to build the United State’s first high speed rail tracks.  Plans for high-speed rails were announced by President Barack Obama.   Nothing out of the ordinary  until you add in some creepy and disturbing historical context.

Sixty-Nine years before they made their current play to transport us at high speed around the United States, SNCF was transporting Jews at relative high speed to concentration camp gas chambers during the Holocaust. Between 1941 and 1944, 3,000 wagons — originally designed for the transportation of cattle — were used by the SNCF to transport Jews to Nazi death camps.  Holocaust survivors and others are voicing their opposition to SNCF being part of the high speed rail process.

This is not the 1st time a foreign company with Holocaust ties has caused controversy when trying to do business in this country.  In 2008,  the Germany based financial services giant(the largest in the world),  Allianz received similar treatment when they announced that they would bid for the naming rights to the NFL’s New York Jets and New York Giants new Meadowlands Stadim. Allianz  has its name on Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.   That’s the relative present.  In the historical past, Allianz insured the building of concentration camps.  In the past Allianz  had given money owed to Jewish beneficiaries of their life insurance policies to the Nazi authorities instead.

At first,  Like Allianz,  SNCF  poured on excuse after excuse of justification and order following to minimize their historical complicity in mass murder. SNCF  argues that it had no control over railroad operations when France was under Nazi occupation from 1940 to 1944. It was simply under orders to transport Jews to death camps. The following orders” argument goes directly to the moral low ground explicitly rejected in the Nuremberg Trials  and other war crimes tribunals.  It is insultingly despicable that it would even be put forth in a  good faith attempt to deal with the facts.  In January, faced with the prospect of  the loss United States high speed rail contracts,  SNCF finally did proffer a formal apology for its role.

States are now also taking steps to ensure that any company involved in the Billion Dollar nationwide project, disclose any involvement with the Holocaust. In California, lawmakers had passed a bill to ensure this,  but it was subsequently vetoed by then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.  The bill would have forced companies  wanting to bid on a share of  California’s $45 billion high-speed rail project to disclose whether they transported Holocaust victims.  Maryland has  passed legislation requiring  SNCF  to disclose, as a condition for receiving their rail contract, to disclose it’s role in transporting 76,000 people loaded in 76 cattle cars to their death in Nazi camps.

More recently, SNFC struck a deal with the  state of Florida to fund a Holocaust education program with an 80k donation.   Is this enough?  Many survivors do not think so calling it “tainted money”.

To a large extent time is taking care of the most vocal objections.  Within 10 years there will be few if any survivor left.   Many of us will always remember but many will forget, especially when profits make it expedient to do so. Will “Holocaust Tainted” companies care anymore then?

Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francais(SNCF)  is bidding to get a piece of the lucrative contracts to build the United State’s first high speech rail tracks.  Plans for high-speed rails were announced by President Barack Obama.   Nothing out of the ordinary  until you add in some creepy and disturbing historical context.

Sixty-Nine years before they made their current play to transport us at high speed around the United States, SNCF was transporting Jews at relative high speed to concentration camp gas chambers during the Holocaust. Between 1941 and 1944, 3,000 wagons — originally designed for the transportation of cattle — were used by the SNCF to transport Jews to Nazi death camps.  Holocaust survivors and others are voicing their opposition to SNCF being part of the high speed rail process.

This is not the 1st time a foreign company with Holocaust ties has caused controversy when trying to do business in this country.  In 2008,  the Germany based financial services giant(the largest in the world),  Allianz received similar treatment when they announced that they would bid for the naming rights to the NFL’s New York Jets and New York Giants new Meadowlands Stadim. Allianz  has its name on Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.   That’s the relative present.  In the historical past, Allianz insured the building of concentration camps.  In the past Allianz  had given money owed to Jewish beneficiaries of their life insurance policies to the Nazi authorities instead.

At first,  Like Allianz,  SNCF  poured on excuse after excuse of justification and order following to minimize their historical complicity in mass murder. SNCF  argues that it had no control over railroad operations when France was under Nazi occupation from 1940 to 1944. It was simply under orders to transport Jews to death camps. The following orders” argument goes directly to the moral low ground explicitly rejected in the Nuremberg Trials  and other war crimes tribunals.  It is insultingly despicable that it would even be put forth in a  good faith attempt to deal with the facts.  In January, faced with the prospect of  the loss United States high speed rail contracts,  SNCF finally did proffer a formal apology for its role.

States are now also taking steps to ensure that any company involved in the Billion Dollar nationwide project, disclose any involvement with the Holocaust. In California, lawmakers had passed a bill to ensure this,  but it was subsequently vetoed by then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bill, would have forced companies  wanting to bid on a share of  California’s $45 billion high-speed rail project to disclose whether they transported Holocaust victims.  Maryland has now  passed legislation requiring  SNCF  to disclose, as a condition for receiving their rail contract, to disclose it’s role in transporting 76,000 people loaded in 76 cattle cars to their death in Nazi camps.

Will we reach a historical point where companies who wish to shed their Holocaust past can do business without fear of negative publicity and blackballed business dealings?  To a large extent time is taking care of that.  Within 10 years there will be few if any survivor left.  Many of us will always remember but many will forget, especially when profits make it expedient to do so.  There however,is still  time for companies who have not adequately confronted their past to do so and re-brand themselves for the future without excuse or justification.

Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francais(SNCF)  is bidding to get a piece of the lucrative contracts to build the United State’s first high speech rail tracks. Plans for high-speed rails were announced last January by President Barack Obama. Nothing out of the ordinary about that until you add in some creepy and disturbing historical context. Sixty-Nine years before they made their current play to transport us at high speed around the United States, SNCF was transporting Jews at relative high speed to concentration camp gas chambers during the Holocaust. Between 1941 and 1944, 3,000 wagons — originally designed for the transportation of cattle — were used by the SNCF to transport Jews to Nazi death camps.  Holocaust survivors and others are voicing their opposition to SNCF being part of the high speed rail process.

This is not the 1st time a foreign company with Holocaust ties has caused controversy when trying to do business in this country.  In 2008,  the Germany based financial services giant(the largest in the world),  Allianz received similar treatment when they announced that they would bid for the naming rights to the NFL’s New York Jets and New York Giants new Meadowlands Stadim.   Allianz  has its name on Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany. That’s the relative present.  In the historical past, Allianz insured the building of concentration camps.  In the past Allianz  had given money owed to Jewish beneficiaries of their life insurance policies to the Nazi authorities instead.

Like Allianz,  SNCF has poured on excuse after excuse of justification and order following to minimize their historical complicity in mass murder. SNCF  argues that it had no control over railroad operations when France was under Nazi occupation from 1940 to 1944. It was simply under orders to transport Jews to death camps.  The firm also has said the French government has made an apology and offered reparations.  The company however has reportedly not apologized for its direct role.  Moreover, the “following orders” argument goes directly to the moral low ground explicitly rejected in the Nuremberg Trials  and other war crimes tribunals.  It is insultingly despicable that it would even be put forth in a  good faith attempt to deal with the facts.

In the end, the Stadium Authority decided that the public relations damage that would ensue was not worth taking millions from Allianz.  As I was with Allianz, I am against SNCF or any company who played a direct role in the Holocaust and has not confronted it through direct apologies and/or reparations doing business in this country.

As to the high speed rail, other states have recognized the sensitivity and historical significance of the issue.  In California, lawmakers passed a bill that forces companies  wanting to bid on a share of  California’s $45 billion high-speed rail project to disclose whether they transported Holocaust victims.

Will we reach a historical point where companies who wish to shed their Holocaust past can do business without fear of negative publicity and blackballed business dealings?  To a large extent time is taking care of that.  Within 10 years there will be few if any survivor left.  Many of us will always remember but many will forget, especially when profits make it expedient to do so.  There however,is still more than enough time for companies who have not adequately confronted their past to do so and re-brand themselves for the future without excuse or justification.